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Major change coming to TV ratings

Updated: Overnight ratings are set to be pushed back to 10am daily, as networks seek to better report viewing habits.

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Changes are coming to OzTAM daily ratings, with Overnight rankings set to be released from 10am instead of 9am.

The changes are the result of networks seeking to find a way to change the focus to Overnight figures to a “Total TV” figure (aka VOZ) and better reflect the way viewers are watching.

For 3 weeks OzTAM has been releasing weekly VOZ data on its new VOZ website. These combine Overnight / Metro / Regional / BVOD and Consolidated numbers.

Yesterday at Seven West Media’s FY21 announcement and presentation CEO James Warburton said  networks would begin to issue daily “Total TV” figures for the previous 7 days (ie. figures released at 9am Tuesday would be for the Monday from the previous week).

Overnight rankings would then be released to media at 10am.

A new strategy has been a point of much discussion between all broadcasters in Free to Air + Subscription TV, including whether dumping Overnight figures might undermine public conversation around Television.

A compromise appears to have been reached to release Total TV figures first (for the corresponding day 7 days previous) then Overnight rankings an hour later.

Yesterday James Warburton indicated this would commence from next Monday, but an OzTAM spokesperson told TV Tonight, “OzTAM continues to work with broadcasters towards issuing a Daily 7-day Consolidated Total TV Program Ranking report to journalists in the coming weeks.

“Details and timing are still being discussed.”

OzTAM is jointly owned by Seven, Nine & 10.

Update: Warburton today tells Mediaweek, “I have been campaigning hard for this. We need to be more progressive. For 21 years we have been doing the same thing the same way and releasing the smallest possible [ratings] number. We are making progress. It was due to come out next week, two years too late. It is too slow from OzTAM. We as an industry are responsible for that. We own OzTAM and we need to be driving it harder to be more progressive.”

5 Responses

  1. The overnights are important to programmers whose fingers hover above the “Ditch, Tweak or Give it another week” buttons. Overnights give trends that may be hidden by Consolidated numbers.
    Advertisers are aware that their shelves could be empty by the time the streamers and time-shifters get to the shops! We’ve all been there.
    Cap city viewers pay the piper, the Regionals just listen to the tune.

  2. Apart from the anticipated daily release of COVID case numbers, I look forward to ratings every morning.
    I’ll have to wait until after my morning tea.

  4. I’m going to ignore the Total TV figures they want me to focus on, and simply wait until for the only figures that matter to me as a viewer – the overnight ratings.

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